The present invention relates to a cup holder provided in an interior of a vehicle such as an automobile and the like, and especially, relates to a cup holder of a type wherein a cup retaining member is popped up by interconnecting with opening and closing operations of a lid member.
As a cup holder disposed inside the interior of the vehicle such as the automobile and the like, and retaining a cup, aluminum beverage can, plastic bottle, and the like so as not to be tipped over, a pop-up type is well-known. The pop-up type includes a case main body defining a housing chamber including an opening portion on an upper side; a lid member rotatably attached to the case main body between a closed position closing the opening portion and an open position opening the opening portion; a cup retaining member including a cup-retaining shape portion; a parallel link mechanism connecting the case main body and the cup retaining member, and movably retaining the cup retaining member between a descent position inside the housing chamber and an ascent position on an upper side of the opening portion; and connecting mechanisms connecting the lid member and the cup retaining member so as to be capable of interconnecting, allowing the cup retaining member to ascend and move to the ascent position from the descent position by a movement of the lid member from the closed position to the open position, and allowing the cup retaining member to descend and move from the ascent position to the descent position by a movement of the lid member from the open position to the closed position (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-137761: Patent Document 1).
In the pop-up-type cup holder as mentioned above, when a hand, plastic bottle, or the like touches the cup retaining member which is in the ascent position so that a load pushing down the cup retaining member acts on the cup retaining member, the cup retaining member descends unexpectedly. Consequently, cup retention by the cup retaining member becomes unstable. Also, in a state wherein the cup retaining member retains the cup, when the load pushing down the cup retaining member acts on the cup retaining member, the cup is sandwiched between the cup retaining member and the lid member, and the cup retaining member is prevented from descending, so that an excessive load acts on the cup retaining member. Consequently, the cup retaining member may be damaged.
Especially, the parallel link mechanism connecting the case main body and the cup retaining member is structured by a right-and-left pair of first link members whose one end is respectively connected to both right-and-left side portions of the cup retaining member so as to be capable of rotating around an axis line extending in a right-and-left direction, and whose other end is respectively rotatably connected to the case main body; and a second link member with a length equal to the first link members whose one end is connected to an intermediate portion of the right-and-left direction of the cup retaining member in a position which differs in a front-back direction from a connecting position between the cup retaining member and the first link members so as to be capable of rotating around the axis line extending in the right-and-left direction, and whose other end is rotatably connected to the case main body. In the parallel link mechanism wherein a rotating face (plane surface perpendicular to a rotating axis line) of the first link members and a rotating face of the second link member are not located on the same plane surface, and are located in a position which differs in an axis line direction, when the load pushing down the cup retaining member acts on the cup retaining member, the cup retaining member is easily deformed by being twisted as a twisting axis line of the right-and-left direction, and due to a twisting deformation, right-and-left end portions of the cup retaining member easily descend in such a way as to “bow down”. Consequently, the cup retention by the cup retaining member easily becomes unstable.
An object of the present invention is to provide a pop-up-type cup holder which prevents the cup retention by the cup retaining member from becoming unstable due to an unexpected descending movement or the twisting deformation of the cup retaining member. Also, the pop-up-type cup holder prevents the cup retaining member from being damaged by an action of an excessive pushing-down load on the cup retaining member.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.